Roman gladiator school located in Austria

VIENNA, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- A large, well-preserved school for Roman gladiators has been discovered at a site east of Austria's capital of Vienna, archaeologists say.

The remains of the school, part of Carnuntum, a Roman city that was an important military and trade outpost 17 centuries ago, were detected with radar imagery, BBC News reported Monday.

The city is thought to have been home to about 50,000 people.

In the radar images, thick walls can be seen surrounding the compound, which contained 40 small cells for gladiators, a training area and a large bathing area, researchers said.

Three-dimensional images of the school show it to have been a mixture of a barracks and a prison, archaeologists said, as gladiators were often convicted criminals or prisoners-of-war and almost always slaves.

A date for beginning excavations of the gladiator school has not been set, researchers said, as time is required to formulate a plan that will allow preserving as much of the ruins as possible.